I was successful running jugs, catching some over 20 lbs. I had no intention to eat a fish that big. It was a lifetime memory to hold a 36 lb cat up at the dam where I found it miles away. She was gorgeous and released back.

I also was horrified to find a jug that had been lost by me. A small catfish died on that line and I am horrified to think how I can so easily kill someone else's lifetime catch!

Can I practically use or count on hooks that straighten easily? I prefer that because a big cat has no problem there (I hope) and if she straightens it, i won't leave line in the fish

Anyone confirm if that works or some solution? I wanna catch a lot of eater cats on jugs with my family but I also want to preserve the ecosystem and sport with the biguns

I have friends that use jug lines a lot, but never for catch & release. If they do have a big fish usually 9lbs and over, they release it. They also only leave out their lines while they are on the water and are watching them continuously. On rare occasions they will have a missing jug and when they find it the fish is usually gone. I do know they do their best on releasing the bigger fish. In my opinion just do the best you can on the methods you are using while C & R fishing. If one does not survive, it would be good for the dinner table as long that it is a legal catch.

Thanks

Since making this thread, I talked to my brother and he advised similarly to watch your jugs and don't run off. Put them out and fish nearby if you want. 1 hook each. No reason to have 50 hooks. You don't want that many.

I've caught good sized eater cats on those gold aberdeen crappie hooks while fishing for crappie so that's a thought, and also as mentioned above attend your jugs and I'd limit the number of hooks to maybe no more than two or three hooks per line.
Seems like with there being more people on the lakes than in the past, some can't seem to resist checking jugs to see what's there even if they don't belong to them.
If you are watching your jugs and you see a suspicious boat approaching, a single blast from an air horn will make them change course.